Parallax Online is the free Internet game and stats tracking service 
operated by Volition, Inc. and Outrage Entertainment. Currently it
supports FreeSpace, Descent 3, and FreeSpace 2.

@Problems?
For all Tech Support on Parallax Online (PXO), please visit the
support page (at http://www.pxo.net/support.cfm).
Interplay Support will >not< be able to help you with PXO problems.

@Players
On the left you see a list of players in your currently active 
channel. Each player in this list is a registered FreeSpace 2 Demo
pilot. You can view a player's official statistics by clicking the
"Pilot Info" button. You can see the ranking of all pilots by
clicking the "Web Ranking" button.

If you're trying to meet up with a friend and are unsure what channel
he/she is in, click on "Find." This prompts you for the player's 
name (you must spell it correctly). If the player is found, it 
notifies you and clicking OK will take you to that channel.

@Joining a Channel
On the top right side of the screen is the Channel List. Each channel
provides players with a place to meet, chat, and form games. There 
are several built-in channels that appear in the scroll box above 
the main Chat Box. If you wish to join a different channel, simply 
click on it in the list and click the "Join Channel" button.

@Joining a Private Channel
In addition to the default channels listed, players may also create 
private channels of their own. These are useful for getting a 
specific group of friends together. To Create or Join a private
channel, click the "Join Private" button. You'll be prompted to type
in the channel name. If that channel already exists and has one or 
more users connected, you will join it. If the channel does not yet 
exist, it will be created for you. Private channels do not get 
publicly listed in the Channel List. While you are in a private 
channel, it will be displayed on your local Channel List, however.

@Chatting
Below the Channel List is the main Chat box. Simply type what you
wish to say in the input line at the bottom and press <Enter>.  
Your text is sent to everyone in your active channel. 
Additionally, there are a few "slash" commands you can use.  
Example: if you want to message your friend "Jacko" privately, type 
"/msg Jacko Hi there!" (don't type the quotes) and it will be sent
privately to him.

Here are the slash commands currently supported by PXO:

@/msg <player> <message>         
- Message someone privately. Player needs to be logged into PXO,
but does not need to be in the same channel as you. Player names are
not case sensitive.

@/me <emote text>
- Emotes in the current channel. Example:  If your player name is
Marvin and you typed "/me is looking for opponents," the message
"Marvin is looking for opponents" would be sent to everyone in the
channel.

These slash commands work only in the PXO Chat screens. In-game and
pre-game chatting does not currently support them.

@Joining Games
Clicking the "Games" button takes you to the Games listing for
that channel. All game servers for that channel are listed, 
along with status, mission name, player count, and ping time to the
server.  

Servers with an asterisk (*) next to their names are standalone
(dedicated) servers. Standalone servers generally handle larger
numbers of players better.

Servers marked with a "C" are currently playing a Campaign (as
opposed to a single mission).

If the status field is displayed in green, you may select that
mission and click the "Join" button. If the status is red, the 
game is either full or not in an appropriate state to accept more
players. Please consult your game's manual for more information
on joining multiplayer games.


@Creating Games
Once you are in an appropriate channel, clicking on the "Games" button
takes you to the Games listing. At this point, clicking on 
"Create Game" takes you to the multiplayer game creation screens.
For more details on multiplayer games and creating them, consult
your game's manual or readme.txt file.
